“Hill Country, Eastern Townships” by Alexander Young Jackson (Canadian, 1882-1974), circa 1915, oil on board, 16½ by 19 inches, was one of two lots to earn the highest price of the day at $13,970 ($15/25,000).
Review by Kiersten Busch
STAMFORD, CONN. — The private collection of Edmund and Leslie Glass (New York City and Redding, Conn.), the collection of a Rowayton, Conn., couple; and property from a Greenwich, Conn., home made up just some of the 427 lots offered in ACES Gallery’s Spring Estates Auction, conducted on June 14.
One of two lots that reached the sale-high price of $13,970 was “Hill Country, Eastern Townships,” a circa 1915 oil on board by Canadian artist Alexander Young Jackson, which was consigned from the Rowayton collection. Signed to the lower right and titled verso, the snowy landscape was purchased by the consignor in 1986 from Kaspar Gallery (Toronto, Canada).
Fine art continued to captivate bidders, with half of the top ten best-selling lots of the day belonging to the category. South African artist John Meyer was represented by two lots, and although only one sold, it earned $12,065, the third-highest price of the day. Titled “Bethesda Road,” the oil on board depicted the Nieu Bethesda District of South Africa and was completed in 1975. Also consigned from the Rowayton collection, the work was purchased by the couple from Pieter Wenning Gallery in Johannesburg, South Africa.
John Meyer’s (South African, b 1942) oil on board “Bethesda Road,” 1975, 19½ by 26 inches framed, earned a scenic $12,065 ($15/25,000).
Continuing with the theme of landscapes from the Rowayton collection, two oil on canvas works by Joseph John Reboli sold one after another for $5,334 and $4,960, respectively. The former, “Shadowy Winterscape,” was dated to 1978, while the latter, titled “Snowbound,” depicted a dinghy on a wintery beach and was dated to 1979.
Figural works on paper were led by the oil on canvas “Vision of St Francis” by Francesco Solimena, alternatively titled “St Francis Refuses the Priesthood, a Bozzeto.” The painting’s provenance was extensive, which may have contributed to its $8,255 finish. Consigned by Edmund and Leslie Glass, the work was previously owned by art historian, collector and author Alfred K. Moir, and was bequeathed by Moir to the Minneapolis Institute of Art in 2011. It had been exhibited in the Santa Barbara Museum of Art, and was in the San Diego Fine Arts Gallery’s 1973 exhibition titled “Baroque Works.” A label on the back of the piece explained that it was a “Preparatory study for an altarpiece in the church of Santa Monica Donnaregina, Naples (1693).”
Three-dimensional works were led by an untitled wire sculpture of a human face by an unknown artist, which made more than 30 times its $100/200 estimate at $6,985. It was rendered in a silver-toned metal wire using twisted junctions and measured 8 inches tall by 7 inches wide by 7½ inches deep. Also excelling were a circa Eighteenth or Nineteenth Century Sino-Tibetan gilt bronze sculpture of a Green Tara Bodhisattva ($3,048) and “Standing Female Figure,” a wood carving by Chaim Gross ($2,667).
Designed by an unknown artist, this untitled wire sculpture of a human face, 8 inches tall by 7 inches wide by 7½ inches deep, far surpassed its conservative $100/200 estimate, changing hands for $6,985.
The other lot sharing top-lot honors at $13,970 was a Rolex day-date President 18K gold men’s wristwatch with a champagne tapestry dial and baton numerals. Manufactured between 1984-85, the watch was accompanied by its original small green box, a leather-wrapped presentation box and its paperwork. The “gold standard” continued in the jewelry category with an 18K gold and diamond station necklace designed in a “Y” shape with nine bezel-set diamond stations. Surpassing its $1,5/2,000 estimate, the necklace realized $4,318.
Silver, mostly in the form of sterling flatware services, maintained popularity with bidders, as has been the trend in auctions for the past year or so. Earning $6,985 was a Wallace service for 12 in the Grand Baroque pattern, which came with additional serving pieces such as three pie servers with steel blades, a slotted tomato server and a butter spreader, among other pieces. It was accompanied by a fitted wooden box and was consigned from the private collection of a Stamford, Conn., lady. A second Wallace flatware set in the Grand Baroque pattern, this example a service for 14, sold a few lots later at $6,096. Sold without a storage chest was a Lunt sterling silver flatware service in the Eloquence pattern, which weighed 74.75 troy ounces and set the table for $4,064.
Prices quoted include buyer’s premium as reported by the auction house. For information, 914-222-8686 or www.aces.net.
